Taking agentic AI beyond the buzzword

**HENRIETTE HUGO **

Artificial Intelligence has become the most talked-about technology of our time. Every day, organisations are pitched new tools promising greater efficiency, lower costs, and smarter decisions.

Amid the noise, leaders face one essential question: is AI simply the latest hype cycle, or a force that will fundamentally reshape how we do business?

The answer is already unfolding. The next evolution of AI is here, and it’s called Agentic AI.

Unlike traditional AI that waits for a prompt and returns a response, Agentic AI plans, decides, and acts within defined boundaries. It doesn’t just assist people; it moves work forward on its own.

For insurance, the opportunity is significant. Agentic AI can streamline claims processing, sharpen fraud detection, personalise customer interactions, and lift administrative burden off employees’ shoulders, freeing people to focus on the moments where human judgement and empathy matter most.

But every major technology wave brings opportunity wrapped in hype. History is full of innovations that transformed industries, and just as many that faded once the novelty wore off.

AI is different: the hype will pass, but the technology is here to stay. The real danger for leaders isn’t moving too slowly. It’s moving without purpose.

So how should leaders invest wisely?

1. Start with the customer, not the technology.

The right question is never “how much AI can we implement?” It’s “how can AI solve real customer problems, better, faster, and more responsibly?” Technology adopted for its own sake rarely survives contact with the market.

2. Focus on outcomes, not automation for its own sake.

Customers don’t buy insurance to own a policy. They buy financial security and peace of mind.

AI earns its place only when it strengthens that promise. Automating a broken process just makes it fail faster.

3. Keep people at the centre.

AI should extend human capability, not replace it. That means investing as seriously in employee skills, governance, and ethical decision-making as in the technology itself.

These three principles share a common thread: they treat AI as a means, not an end. That’s ultimately what separates leaders who ride out the hype cycle from those who get swept up in it.

So, is AI just the latest trend, or a genuine shift? The honest answer is both. The noise around it will fade, as it always does. But the underlying capability won’t.

The leaders who thrive won’t be the ones who adopted AI first, or fastest, or most aggressively. They’ll be the ones who adopted it with intention, anchored to customers, accountable to people, and built to last.

*Henriëtte Hugo, Senior Manager: Continuous Improvement and Projects at Momentum Metropolitan Namibia